drought

Silicon life forms declare war on "ugly giant bags of mostly water" — in other words, us.by Gaius PubliusWater is literally the stuff of life for living beings. All life began as single-celled organisms floating in water. In their earliest and simplest form, living things are organized bags of water capable of reproduction, whose "inside" water is held together by a permeable or semi-permeable membrane ("sack" or "skin") through which nutrients borne by the "outside" water (the environment) pass in, and through which waste passes out.

Current drought status in the U.S. Note the color-coded legend in the lower-right portion of the graphic (source; click to enlarge)by Gaius PubliusI started to write a piece about a nice BillMoyers.com write-up of a good set of feature (and media-interactive) reports at ProPublica.

According to Credo, Nestle CEO Tim Brown was asked in a radio interview recently if the company would consider halting their water extraction from a national forest in drought-stricken California. The answer may not be what you’d expect.
Did Brown apologize for the corporation’s contribution to California’s water crisis? Nope. He doubled down and said, “Absolutely not. In fact, if I could increase it, I would.”

In the heart of what corporate wine industry lobbyists have re-branded “Wine Country,” activists from four North Coast California counties gathered in early May for their third monthly meeting. They created a regional network of groups from Sonoma, Napa, Lake, and Mendocino counties.

That’s right, the US Forest Service has been turning their heads while a multinational corporation, whose former CEO thinks water is not a human right, and should be privatized, has been stealing our water.
Talk about being asleep at the wheel.

Rural folk from four Northern California counties came in mid-April to a magical juncture where the life-giving Russian River empties into the majestic Pacific Ocean. Though the small, unincorporated village of Jenner is a popular recreational destination, pleasure was not the intention.
Our mission was to preserve agrarian lifestyles and environments from further colonization by industrial wineries. Large corporate wineries–owned mainly by outside investors–were the main target.

Nestlé has continued its water bottling practices even while California has struggled though its worst drought in history, gaining not only the negative attention of residents, but also of an enraged nation. Activists have taken the matter into their own hands, picketing the corporation that guzzles over 80 million gallons of water form Sacramento aquifers every year – only to sell that water back to the public.

That much water gets you half a glass of oil (image source)by Gaius PubliusAs regular readers know, I've been on about California water lately — in particular, the drought, the rationing and the so-called

Sonoma County, Northern California — “California Puts Mandatory Curbs on Water Use” reports the April 2 New York Times long article at the top of the front-page. “Steps to Confront Record-Setting Drought,” the sub-headline reads. The article describes Gov. Jerry Brown’s executive order—California’s first time restricting water use.
A 25% reduction of water use over the next year is required of residents, golf courses, cemeteries, and many businesses. But wait. “Owners of large farms…will not fall under the 25% guideline.”

by Gaius PubliusI was going to write about the collapse of the Democratic Party in the Senate (thanks, Harry Reid; you too, Patty Murray), but I think I'll save that. The other news is this — the battle over water in California. This isn't a drought story.